We are home from our trip. Somehow the little man stayed awake the entire car ride home, I guess left over excitement from Disneyland. He was so tired he passed out on our sofa at 6pm, he never just falls asleep on the couch, I mean never. He woke up about an hour later when I was trying to change his diaper and get pjs on him. At least he still went back to bed at 8pm like normal and slept all night. He really did not eat dinner last night, and was really tough to get to eat this morning. Why does it have to be so hard to get a hungry kid to eat. Once he starts eating you can not stop him, but getting him to take that first bite sometimes is torture. We really did have a great time, possibly our best family vacation yet. Later today I hope to post some of our tips on Disneyland.

The day started out a little rough today. I was pushed off the bus while holding the little man when we got to Disneyland. Luckily I kept my balance, but I am pretty sure I will have a nice bruise on my elbow from hitting the door on my way out. Seriously some people, you know who you are, need to learn a little class and patience. When you are on a totally packed bus you do not need to push your way out. If you wait, I don’t know maybe an extra 5 seconds, before you barrel your way through a door you might not hurt someone, or at least stop and say you are sorry when you do. Moms like that make me understand why there are so many pushy bully kids at the playground. They have to come from somewhere.
After the bus incident, the day so far has been great. We got to ride Alice in Wonderland, Mad Tea Party, Mr. Toad, and Peter Pan, then we moved over to California Adventure.
I think we might have to do an intervention on the little man. He is completely addicted to the Monster’s Inc. ride. We rode it once all together then took turns taking him so that we could ride the Soarin’ Over California ride. He has been on the ride 10 times today and if it were up to him we would still be going on it.
We have been having a little bit of a tough time getting the little man to eat in the parks. In general he is not a very picky eater, which is great, but he does not eat many “kid’s menu” items. Thankfully Disney has started adding some healthier items to the menus. We also just carry around a never-ending supply of snacks.
Yesterday we ate at Cafe Orleans by the Pirates of the Caribbean. The food was good, pricey, but good. Luckily the kid’s meal came with fruit because that is all the little man would eat. Most kids would love a plate of mac and cheese for lunch, not our guy. We had Bengal BBQ by the Jungle Cruise for dinner. It was pretty good, much cheaper, and I could order a bowl of fruit. We all split a churro after dinner because you can not go to Disneyland and not have a churro. The little man loved it. I think his Grandpa must sneak him donuts.
Today we decided to eat lunch at California Adventure. I think this was a much better plan for us. They seem to have more of a variety of food. We found an Asian rice bowl place, Lucky Fortune Cookery, that was perfect for us. The little man ate almost all of his chicken teriyaki and 1/2 an order if edamame. Plus you get a fortune cookie and he is a fortune cookie addict. The only kind of disappointing thing was the fruit. The kid’s meal comes with fruit and I just assumed it would be fresh. Everywhere else has had fresh fruit but this was a dole fruit cup in juice. The little man took one look at it and said “no”. Oh yeah, and he spilt 1/2 his milk on himself, but otherwise a pretty successful lunch.
As for rides at California Adventure, obviously he loved Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! and we liked Soarin’ Over California. My husband liked Tower of Terror, and the Bug’s Life area is really cute for little kids. We did not see it all, had to head back for nap time, but back again tonight for more fun. Yeah!

I know I have been a little quiet on the posting front. We decided to take a little spur of the moment family vacation. We decided that the little man needed his first trip to Disneyland. This is a great time to go, it is not overly crowded and the weather is great. We are having fun and the little man thinks it is fantastic. You should have seen him when we got here he was running around the hotel room, pumping his fists in the air and he had not even seen Disney yet. So far his favorites have been the submarine, and seeing Buzz Lightyear. Hope to have some pictures up soon.

The little man is a waffle junkie. He loves them. I can not claim these are even close to as good as the ones at the farmer’s market, but those are true Belgian Waffles. I have several recipes that I make but this one is kind of my go to quick, easy version. These I can get done in under 10 minutes which is a plus when you have a hungry toddler hanging on your leg.

P’s Morning Waffles

1 cup flour (all-purpose, although I have used cake flour in a pinch and it worked fine.)

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup plain greek style yogurt (or regular plain yogurt)

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Lightly grease or spray waffle iron and preheat.

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda with a whisk.

In another medium bowl Combine yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add melted butter while stirring (in case your butter is to hot you will not cook your eggs). Pour this mixture into dry ingredients. Stir until fully incorporated, but do not over mix.

Spoon about 1/3 cup batter and spread almost to the corners. (Amount varies with size of iron). Close the lid and bake according to your manufacturer’s instructions, usually 2 – 3 minutes. You want them to be golden brown, and not stick to your iron. Makes about 5 waffles.

You can transfer waffles to a 200 degree oven to keep warm if you are making very many, they do cool pretty quickly and get softer as they cool.

If you would rather get your pancakes and waffles from a mix, the best ones I have found are the Bette’s Oceanview Diner Pancake and Waffle Mixes. They sell them at the store by my house but you can also buy them here.